The owner of The Body Shop is reportedly preparing to appoint administrators for its UK holdings.
Aurelius bought The Body Shop International Limited in a £207m deal announced last November and completed at the beginning of this year.
But now, as first reported by Sky, the firm is understood to be appointing FRP Advisory for the insolvency of its UK arm. This would affect around 250 stores.
The Body Shop posted a loss of £60m in its last financial year when it was still owned by the Brazilian cosmetics group Natura & Co.
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, with a small shop in Brighton/UK. At the heart of her vision stood an ethical approach to business, a purpose that was trail-blazing at the time.
The company was sold to L’Oreal in 2006 and then to Natura &Co in 2017.
When the deal with Aurelius was announced at the end of last year, the company said: “AURELIUS will work with the management team to drive operational excellence across the group, leveraging its expertise and experience in the omni-channel retail and wholesale markets.
“This, combined with The Body Shop’s iconic brand and heritage in socially responsible products, means that despite the challenging retail market there is an opportunity to re-energise the business to enable it to take advantage of positive trends in the high-growth beauty market.”
The Body Shop has an outlet at Westwood Cross.
